A Scarlet Nightmare
Prologue "King Rust, get your big lazy tail in here right now!" Queen Falu shouted down the long stone hallway. "Hurry up!" Her slitted green eyes focused on the dark hallway entrance. King Rust scurried in with his tail in between his legs and sat next to his mate. "I'm here darling..." He said, his voice trailing off. "Good! Now be quiet, they're hatching!" She said, flicking her tail at her eggs, one red, one orange, and one a mysterious raspberry color. The golden blade on the end of her tail glimmered eerily in the moonlight. The red egg cracked and a beautiful ruby red dragonet slid out. She was flawless, not one impurity on her brilliant scales. Pale green eyes shimmered like peridots and a yellow underbelly glistened brightly. Queen Falu puffed out her chest in pride. "She looks just like me! Her name shall be Princess Eruption!" King Rust looked up at her. "I was actually thinking we could name her Princess Ravine." Queen Falu snarled, unsheathing brilliant white teeth like tiny swords. "Her name is Eruption! Now shut up!" He put his orange wings over his head and whimpered quietly. "Sorry..." The raspberry colored egg broke open and a strange magenta dragonet hopped out playfully. She had a pink underbelly and almost blindingly bright red wings. She looked at her father and chirped. "Awrk?" Aww. How cute. I think she likes me already. the king thought to himself. The queen reached over and nearly snatched the dragonet away from him, earning herself an irritated squeak. "No, bad dragonet! Your father doesn't matter to you! I'' am the only one that matters! I am your mother and your queen!" The magenta dragonet squeaked and started to cry. Princess Eruption glared at her mother and walked to her father. ''Oh who needs you you worthless worm! the queen thought, scowling at Eruption. Her gaze turned back to the magenta dragonet. "You will be Princess Sinopia." She let the dragonet go and she ran right back to her father. Despite the dragonet's weak appearance, the queen knew she had just hatched an animus. It seemed like hours before the orange egg did anything, but sure enough, a few cracks appeared and a hole was broken in the shell. The orange dragonet pushed her head out and chirped. She looked at her father and jumped out at him. She tumbled into his talons and he picked her up. Once again, Queen Falu was infuriated. "Hand her over Rust! I'm naming her!" King Rust put his talons in the way of the dragonet, blocking the queen's reach, his yellow-orange scales shining in the pale light of the hatchery. "You named the other two, I want to name this one." He said calmly, contrast to his mate's vicious tone. Falu pulled her sharp black claw back. "Fine! Name her! But I'm sure she'll be worthless!" The king looked down at the dragonet curled in his talons. "Princess Scarlet. You will be Princess Scarlet." Chapter One The three Skywing princesses were incredibly excited. It was their sixth Hatching Day and they would be receiving their first piece of jewelry. Everyone was excited, except Scarlet. "I hope I get some ruby armbands!" Eruption cried happily. "Well I'' hope I get an obsidian point for my tail!" Sinopia responded. "What are you hoping for Scarlet?" Scarlet snapped back into attention. "Huh? Um... I don't know. I guess we just have to wait to find out." Eruption, still joyful, asked her sister what was troubling her, earning an annoyed hiss and a puff of smoke. Sinopia put her wing over Scarlet's back. Her orange eyes scanned her sister. "Just try to be happy. You're turning six years old today ''and getting your first piece of jewelry. So cheer up! Don't be so grumpy." Scarlet, who knew better than to argue with her animus sister, rolled her eyes and put on a fake grin. "Yeah I suppose you're right." The three princesses walked in an orderly fashion up to the thrones and bowed. Queen Falu sat, towering and terrifying as usual, scowling at her daughters with cold, slitted green eyes. Her blood-red scales seemed to faintly glow in the light of the throne room. King Rust, on a lighter note, looked rather proud. His golden-yellow eyes looked happily at his three dragonets. Queen Falu rose, small pieces of jewelry in each talon. She approached Princess Eruption and stood up tall. Eruption puffed out her chest and put her shoulders back, trying to seem as queenly as possible. Falu pulled a few small necklaces and rings from a velvet bag and handed them to her. "For you, Eruption, two ruby necklaces, a gold ring, and a set of ruby earrings." Eruption happily took them from her mother. "Thank you mother!" Falu smiled at her proudly, her green eyes had the slightest touch of happiness in them. She then walked to Princess Sinopia, who tried to stand up tall and straight. She pulled a ruby studded tail blade, a strand of diamond beads, and a matching bracelet out of the bag and handed them to her. Sinopia was beaming with joy. "Thank you mother! It's all so pretty!" She then stepped in front of Princess Scarlet and scowled, as she normally did. A cloud of smoke left her nostrils. Scarlet looked at her mother, a small look of fear on her face. What's she going to do? Falu, with a snarl, dropped the remainder of what was in the velvet bag at Scarlet's feet. She gave her daughter a look of disgust. Scarlet looked at what her mother gave her, feeling quite bad about her self. A few small, bent, gold earrings, two small, dirty rings, and a thin, tarnished, gold chain necklace sat in front of her, looking as if they were hundreds of years old. Without a word, she picked up the small amount of old jewelry she had been given and attempted to put it on. Falu just turned around, and Scarlet could have sworn she heard her whisper, "Worthless dragonet..." as she walked away. Her tail lashed, furiously, nearly sending the pearl studded blade flying off. Scarlet had always possessed a hatred for her mother. She had been cruel to her from the time she hatched, beating her and insulting her every day. Sometimes she wished she could just leave and start anew. But she didn't wish to leave behind her sisters, whom her mother actually cared for. As the princesses left the throne room to get ready for their Hatching Day festivities, Scarlet looked over at her sisters, all more adorned than her. Why doesn't mother care? I've never done anything to her. Why does she care about my sisters more? Eruption and Sinopia talked about their jewelry and laughed, while Scarlet walked in silence and away from them. I'll show you one day mother! One day, I'll be a better queen than you ever were! Chapter Two Even though Scarlet and Queen Falu hated each other, King Rust was always very kind to her. He never hit her or yelled at her, even sneaking her better gifts after seeing the old, dirty jewelry her mother had given to her. But Queen Falu had seen him. And she was going to make him suffer for it. A knock sounded at Scarlet's large wooden door and Rust slinked in. Scarlet sat up. "Dad? What are you doing in here?" "No time, just take these." he said, shoving the jewelry into her talons. She picked up each piece, observing it closely. A set of rubies to put on her horns and eye ridges, a set of gold earrings with a ruby on the end, and a set of brilliant, shining gold chainmail with rubies around the neck and arms. She quickly put it on. She observed herself in a mirror and hugged her father. "Thanks daddy." She kissed his cheek and ran to the arena for her Hatching Day celebration. As she was walking to the arena balcony, she ran into her sisters. Eruption gasped, noticing Scarlet's new jewelry. Her green eyes widened at her. "Scarlet, where did you get those?" she asked in awe. Sinopia smiled. "You look really pretty! But where did you get all that?" Scarlet's eyes opened wider, darting around, refusing to make eye contact with her sisters. "Uh... Um... I-" "Oh, it doesn't matter! Just as long as you're happy!" Sinopia said. "Now come on! We're going to be late!" The three hurried to the balcony where their parents were already waiting. And dragons she had rarely ever seen, the Sandwing royal family. The three princesses, Blister, Blaze, and Burn all looked at them. Scarlet picked a seat in between Blister and Burn. Blister looked over and sneered. "Oh! Look at the Skywing! I bet you can't even fly yet! You're barely even a Skywing! And where's all your jewels? I thought princesses had to be beautiful! But you're just about as dull as a talonful of dust!" Scarlet slumped down in her seat. She noticed the sandwing princess was wearing a significant number of jewels. "Hey Blister! Why don't you leave her alone!" the larger sandwing next to Scarlet said. "Hey Burn, stay out of this!" Blister snapped. Burn bent down and whispered in Scarlet's ear. "Trade me seats. She can be a real jerk sometimes." Scarlet nodded and swapped seats with Burn. "Thanks..." Burn smiled a little. "Don't mention it. I have to deal with her every day. My name's Burn. What's yours?" she asked, holding out her talon. Scarlet shook her talon and responded. "My name is Scarlet. It's nice to meet you Burn." The smaller Sandwing next to Scarlet spoke. "Oooh! Your jewelry is so shiny!" She looked to only be a few years younger than Scarlet. "It's Scarlet, right?" Scarlet nodded, her earrings jingling slightly. "Well my name's Blaze. And I'm going to be the future queen!" she said proudly, holding a talon to her chest. Blister growled at her. "No, I'm going to be queen!" Burn laughed. "In both of your dreams! It's obvious that I'' am destined to be the future queen! I'm the oldest, I'm the strongest, I'm the smartest-" "No you're not!" Blister yelled. "I'm ''way smarter than you! Have you seen-" "Girls, that's enough!" Queen Oasis interrupted. Blaze cringed and Blister sunk down in her seat. But Burn rolled her eyes. Even though she was still young, she was nearly as big as her father. Scarlet, after observing Blister and Blaze, did think that Burn was the best choice to be queen. She was bigger and stronger, which increased her chance to win in a challenge duel. And old, red dragon climbed the sand mound in the arena and announced. "We gather here today to celebrate the Hatching Day of the three Skywing princesses, Eruption, Sinopia, and Scarlet. We also welcome Queen Oasis and King Heatstroke of the Sandwings." The audience erupted into a thunderous cheer. He cleared his throat and continued. "Our arena competitors today are-" "Stop!" Queen Falu shouted. She whipped her head around to face King Rust. "Rust, as punishment for stealing from my treasury, you will be competing in today's event against the arena champion!" Scarlet felt like her heart had just fallen into her talons. Her eyes couldn't move to look away, widening in horror. "No, dad..." Rust was put into the wired braces the prisoners wore and dropped in the arena. A rampaging blue-green seawing was his competitor, having tried to sneak into the hatchery, he was caught and put in the arena, where he rose to the status of champion. The old dragon continued to the introductions. "On the left, we have the soon to be ex-King Rust. And on the right, we have the arena champion, you know him by his nickname, Bloodshed of the SeaWings." The Seawing snarled, his teeth dripping with drool. His tongue, swollen and purple, hung out of his mouth. "Wings up, claws ready, fight!" The announcer flew off of the mound and the guards released Bloodshed. "Daddy!" Sinopia screamed, burying her face in Eruption's side. Bloodshed circled Rust, snarling and drooling. He suddenly charged, screaming like a hysterical scavenger. He grabbed Rust by the neck, swinging his head back and forth. Rust screamed in pain. He slashed at the SeaWing, cutting a few small cuts on his underside. The SeaWing loosened his grip but did not let go. He twisted his head, snapping King Rust's neck. Scarlet's pupils were virtually nonexistent in orbs of yellow fear. She could only stand there, tears streaming down her face as the only one who ever showed her true compassion was killed right in front of her. Chapter Three Scarlet couldn't move. It was as if her scales were made of stone, paralyzed with fear and sadness as she watched her father die. Queen Oasis looked on in horror and King Heatstroke gave Queen Falu a look of pure disgust. Blaze buried her face in her mother's side and Blister smiled sickly the whole time. Burn looked like she just watched a kingdom be scorched to the ground. She walked up to Scarlet, who was attempting to hold back the tears that were already streaming down her face, and wrapped her wing around her. Scarlet pressed her face into Burn's huge shoulder, letting the tears fall. Burn pat her on the back, trying to assure the princess everything was going to be alright, but nothing worked. Oasis stood up, having seen more than enough. She glared at Queen Falu. "I hope you're happy with what you did, you sad, sick little queen! Burn, Blaze, Blister, come on. Let's go before this disgusting dragon kills any other family members." Blister and Blaze ran into the hallway, eager to go home after what they had seen. Burn, was a bit more hesitant. She wanted to leave but she knew Scarlet needed her. She let go and slowly walked to her mother. Queen Falu snarled at Queen Oasis. "Who needs you! As of now, none of you are ever' '''welcome in the Sky Kingdom again! Scarlet whirled around, panting and snarling, tears staining her face. "I '''hate' you mother!" Sinopia walked up to her sister. "Scarlet, calm down." Scarlet snapped at her, her eyes glowing in fury, a red rim appearing around the outsides of them. "Don't tell me to calm down!" She head snapped back to face the red queen. "Mother, I challenge you for the Skywing throne!" Falu's eyes widened and she barked a laugh. "A challenge duel? Ha! You'll never survive a fight with me!" A wave of murmurs swept through the audience. The Sandwings stopped and stared. The old, red dragon watched from his perch. Even Bloodshed dropped Rust's neck and was staring. Scarlet's glare intensified, her long with claws extending into the stone, a growl emitting from her throat. "You heard me! I challenge you for the throne!" Chapter Four Scarlet's muscles tensed and she dropped into a battle position. Falu did the same, extending her black claws with a sickening click. Instantly, Falu's mind began to rush, remembering her murderous past as adrenaline flooded into her. Scarlet dove at her mother, but got smacked aside. She flopped down and slashed Falu's underbelly. Flecks of blood splattered against Scarlet's face. Falu roared and grabbed a talonful of sand. Her eyes were nothing more than ferocious glowing slits now. Scarlet attacked again, roaring as wrinkles appeared around her face as she snarled. Falu grinned maliciously, throwing her talonful of sand into Scarlet's eyes. She began to pant heavily, as she shoved Scarlet to the ground, placing her talons over her throat. She began to cackle loudly. "You never stood a chance you tiny, insignificant newt! I should have killed you when you were born!" Scarlet gave a muffled gasp, unable to breathe with Falu's massive weight on top of her. She mustered up what breath she could find and exhaled hard, sending flames into Falu's face. She pulled herself to her feet as Falu reeled backwards, grabbing at her face. Falu's eyes were widened green orbs of pure insanity now. She roared as she surged at Scarlet, missing and skidding into the sand. She whipped her head around, extended her colossal wings, hitting Scarlet across her face. Scarlet collapsed, shaking and struggling to get up. Covered in small cuts that bled profusely, she left a red stain on the ground. Falu towered over her. "Since you cared about your father so much, how about you share his fate!" She was grinning sickly, her face blackened and smoking. Scarlet was covered in wired braces and shoved toward the crazed Seawing. Bloodshed, who was still in the arena, lunged at her, eager for blood. Scarlet slashed at him, cutting across his eye. She drew herself up, panting heavily. She looked down at him as he pulled himself off the ground. The crowd began to cheer. Bloodshed snarled, stands of saliva spraying around his swollen tongue. Scarlet snarled to show off knife sharp fangs that glittered like freshly fallen snow. Bloodshed charged at her but Scarlet didn't move. He opened his jaws drool flying from his teeth, ready to bite down. Scarlet jerked forward, grabbing his jaws and clamping them shut and twisting. She reached up and grabbed his black horns, slamming him into a wall. When the dust cleared, Bloodshed's neck was horribly mangled and broken in several places but Scarlet didn't care. She had killed the dragon who killed her father and avenged him. And she found out that she liked killing. She enjoyed it. Her red rubies dripped with blood. She looked up at the balcony and roared. Burn crept along the wall, crouched low to avoid Falu's attention. She swished her barb back and forth. With a snarl, she lunged at the Skywing queen, tackling her. Falu screamed and fell into the arena. When she stood up, her left wing was limp and twisted, a scratch from Burn's barb along her face and neck. She turned to Scarlet and growled, limping slowly toward her, green eyes still filled with hate. Burn leapt from the balcony and drove her long claws into Falu's neck. Falu collapsed, twitching and screaming as blood pooled around her. She clutched her neck as blood bubbled through the gashes. Scarlet, who was standing next to her, stared her dead in the eye. She smiled creepily and whispered in her mother's ear something that made Falu's blood go cold. "Long live the queen." Scarlet then grabbed Queen Falu's neck in her teeth and crushed it. Hearing the crack of the bones of the dragon who caused her so much pain and suffering made her heart jump for joy. Falu was dead. The tyrant queen was no more. Chapter Five Sinopia and Eruption looked on in shock. Eruption ran out the doorway and Sinopia took off after her. Scarlet looked at Burn, who was licking Falu's blood off of her muzzle. "Thank you, Burn. I couldn't have won without you." Burn blushed slightly. "We should probably get your sisters now." Burn ripped off Scarlet's wing braces and they took off after Eruption and Sinopia. They searched all over the palace for the two princesses. They were nowhere to be found. They checked all over the Sky Kingdom, in the villages, in every cave, on all the mountain peaks. When they passed the gorge, they got lucky. The two princesses sat near the edge. They landed next to them. "Sinopia, Eruption, what are you doing?" Scarlet walked toward her sisters. Sinopia gave off a pulse of animus energy. "It's all her fault!" She was pointing straight at Burn. Her red eyes glowed in a way that reminded Scarlet of Falu. Burn gave her a confused look. "What're you talking about? If anything, I've done you a favor. She was so cruel-" "Shut your mouth!" she roared, white teeth peeking out from under her lip. "It's your fault my mother is dead! Now you're going to pay for it!" Sinopia snarled and threw herself at Burn, tackling her and sending a plume of dust around them. Burn slammed her talon against the animus Skywing's face and she fell to the ground with a grunt. Sinopia picked herself up and scratched Burn's snout, leaving a few shallow cuts. She snarled deeply, eyes narrowing. Eruption tried to separate them. "Please! Stop this at once!" She walked over to them, her red scales shining in the dull sunlight. Sinopia roared, slamming into Burn with her shoulder, sending her to the ground. Burn grabbed Sinopia's head as she lunged at her. "Stop!" She placed her back talon on Sinopia's underbelly. "I said...stop!" She used her talon and kicked Sinopia off. "Please! Stop!" Eruption began to get angry. Burn looked at her. "I wasn't doing anything! I-I was just trying to make her stop!" Sinopia, who was on her back, snarled and kicked Burn's jaw, sending her flying backwards. She hit Eruption and sent her over the side of the cliff. Eruption gripped the side of the cliff with her claws, holding on for dear life. Burn reached a talon down. "Eruption! Grab my talon! Hurry!" Eruption reached for Burn's open talon. She slipped down a little further. Her eyes widened in fear. Sinopia flared her cherry-red wings. "Don't touch her!" She barreled into Burn's side, her talon knocking a large piece of rock off the side of the cliff. The rock hit Eruption on the head, the sound of the slam echoing off the side of the ravine as the stone broke over head. Eruption groaned softly, her eyes closing and claws retracting and she let go of the cold stone and plummeted to the bottom of the gorge. Scarlet rushed to the side of the sheer drop and stared down in horror. "No! Eruption!" But there was nothing she could do. Eruption's red scales flickered as she continued to fall. Sinopia stared for a moment and took off toward the palace in a huff. There was silence, but that silence was broken by an echoing thud as Eruption's body crashed against the rocks below. Scarlet felt tears burning in the backs of her eyes. "Oh Eruption... This is all my fault... I'm sorry..." Back at the Skywing Palace, Sinopia was on a rampage. She blasted a burst of animus energy at anything she felt like, losing a bit of her soul with each one. She also began the dark descent down the path less traveled, a choice that would ruin her. Chapter Six Scarlet and Burn walked back to the palace, each mildly shaken up. Scarlet's golden eyes stung with tears. Eruption... No... "Scarlet!" Burn's voice snapped Scarlet out of her daydream. "Huh? What?" "You're queen now." Burn said with a small smile. "What will you do first?" Scarlet gasped. She had forgotten she had won the challenge duel. "Y-You're right." She stopped at the palace entrance, looking down at her claws. Burn stopped too. "What're you doing? What's wrong?" Scarlet looked up again. "Burn, I want my first deed as queen to be to give my father and sister a proper burial." she said softly. Burn nodded. "I'll go alert the guards to create a Retrieval Crew." she said as she ran into the palace, leaving Scarlet alone outside the palace walls. The orange dragon looked up at the sky. Two stars had appeared next to the moon, shining brighter than all the rest. Scarlet mustered a tiny smile as she looked at them. A snarl made itself present behind Scarlet, causing her to bristle in anger and fear as she turned around. It was Sinopia, furious and crazy. Her magenta scales were covered in tiny, self-inflicted scratches and bite marks and her eyes looked absolutely deranged. They were nearly completely white, only a very small bit of her pupil showing on the maddened yellow orbs. Scarlet took a step back from her sister, who was panting heavily, wheezing. "S-Sinopia?" Sinopia gasped for air before speaking, bloodied tears falling from her eyes, turning them a sickly orange. "No... Queen Sinopia!" she snarled as she lunged at Scarlet, attempting to dig her claws into her throat. Scarlet felt herself lash forward, claws extended, and snag Sinopia by her chest and drill her into the ground. She extended her glittering white claws as she pressed harder on her sister's neck. Sinopia sputtered and struggled, pressing her talons on Scarlet's face and chest, attempting to push her off. She began to gasp as the red tears fell more frequently. Scarlet felt something click inside of her. Something had snapped. An ice-cold grin spread across the queen's face. She looked down at Sinopia with crazed eyes. She was now the one staring in horror while the other lost themselves. With a swift movement of her talon and a loud crunch, Sinopia's struggled ended. Scarlet backed off of her sister's fresh corpse, an enraged glint in her eyes. She then spit on her. "No, Sinopia." she hissed. "I'm queen." Several Skywings came fluttering down from the palace walls, worried looks on their faces. A skinny orange dragon walked up to her. "Scarlet, you-" "Ignore the order that was given to you. Eruption is dead, and I killed her." the young queen said proudly. The dragons gasped in shock, a few of them backing away. "Now spread the news across the kingdom that a new queen has ascended to the throne." Scarlet ordered. "Y-Yes, my queen." the group of dragons stuttered in unison before taking off. Scarlet gave her wings a hard flap, propelling herself over the arena wall and landing in the sand. The arena was empty apart from the corpses littering the sand. She walked over to Falu's body, her eyes glittering with malice. "I hope you enjoy your new kingdom, mother; the Place of No Stars." she said with a sneer. Falu's face was blank, her dead eyes glazed over as she stared, her face twisted. Her crooked neck was oozing deep red blood, staining the orange sand beneath her. Scarlet grabbed her mother's tail in her teeth, giving it a tug as she began to drag the large body behind her. "Now you'll never hurt me again." Her head flicked toward three guards, who were staring at her in fear. "Hey you. Clear out these bodies. You can dump them in the gorge." "But Princess-er... Queen Scarlet. Falu and Rust are royalty. Don't you want them to-" "Shove their bodies in the Royal Catacombs then!" Scarlet roared. "But dump the rest in the gorge! I am your queen! I command it!" She watched as the guards scrambled into the arena, each dragging the body of a dragon away. It took the third guard much effort to carry the dead queen out of the arena. WIP Category:Content (Queen Seaglass of the Seawings) Category:Fanfictions (Canon) Category:Fanfictions